How Domestic Violence Hurts Children

Ever since the O. J. trial, domestic violence stories abound. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence writes that “about 1.3 million woman are victims of assault by their intimate partners each year.”

How could this not hurt children?

Both men and women may become victims of domestic violence. NCADV states that 85% of the victims are women. Witnessing the trauma of violence can have a profound and lifelong effect on children. Some children have seen a parent murdered by their partner and others have endured the suicide of a parent who saw no way out. Even seeing one parent hit another is terrifying to a child. It can cause post traumatic stress disorder, loss of self-esteem, depression, aggression and delinquency, poor school adjustment, learned victim/aggressor roles, early marriage, continuation of violent behavior into adulthood, and expansion of violence into the community, such as through bullying and gang activity. A child who experiences bullying at home is more likely to bully others. As adults they often repeat the patterns of violence they experienced as a child. Many, but not all, who witnessed abuse become abusers themselves.